Lebanon County 4-H Shooting Club hits the mark with archery, life skills for youth

The Lebanon County 4-H Shooting Club is right on target in teaching its young members life  skills they can use when they become adults. 

Having just completed its second year this month, the program – like the other 11 clubs organized by 4-H in Lebanon County – is designed to educate its members on a variety of life skills, according to Julie Weaver, extension educator for 4-H Youth Development.

“4-H is all about taking hands-on experience and building life skills for a project. So here our vehicle is just shooting sports and, in particular, the archery discipline. We have also added the discipline of hunting skills and we hope to add other disciplines as well,” Weaver said. “But it’s really more about targeting those life skills.”

The shooting program is open for youths ages 8-18 just like the other local 4-H clubs, which in Lebanon County range from various livestock groups to the Friends Club, the latter having a focus on diverse activities from bicycling to computer programming, from sewing to learning about foods and how to cook them.

In the shooting club, members receive training/education at the start of the evening – especially in the area of shooting safety – with the goal of getting them on the range a short time later. Running club business meetings has also been added into the mix.

“Our goal is to get them shooting within 30 minutes, but in that first 30 minutes we give them just enough information to be completely safe, but yet still successful with those first shots,” Weaver said.

Many of the youths, when they are beginners or among the younger members, start out at a closer distance to the target, with one goal being to expand their personal range as the year progresses. There’s also scoring competitions for the members as they compete for honors as top club shooters.

“Now, the target might be a little bit closer, but hopefully with the focus on that, and then after they have more subsequent shots and they’re having fun and they’re having success, then we go a little bit more in detail about the more intricacies of how to shoot, precision, accuracy, how to sight a bow, and things of that nature,” Weaver said. “A little bit more in how you stand and how you look can affect things.”

Just like all of the other 4-H programs, there’s also an emphasis on fun.

“The ultimate goal is for them to be safe and have fun while having an educational component and learning those life skills,” said Weaver. “What is your goal? Is it to finish the year out shooting five more yards and you successfully were able to before? That can transcend into the woods as far as a goal is to shoot a deer (or advancing) from a very basic level.”

There are other goals that correlate to gaining skills that will help the members when they become adults.

“Consistency, making a plan and seeing it through, especially with archery hunting. You really do have to put a little time effort into it if you’re doing it with a compound and not necessarily a recurve (bow),” she said. “And you have to be dedicated and consistent, and that’s some of the skills that will translate into the woods (and beyond).”

The 4-H model has a component called targeting life skills, Weaver noted. 

“We focus on four areas: the head, heart, hands, and health,” Weaver said. “So head, for example, setting a goal. The heart, I’m a good team member and I have compassion for my teammate. Hands, a big part of 4-H is service learning. So they did some service learning projects, and then physical activity is a component of that. These are big and broad skills like motivation.”

Adult club volunteer Matt Bomgardner said the youths completed a service project at their home range at the Palmyra Sportsmen’s Association, in the 400 block of Sportsman’s Road, and at The Caring Cupboard, also in Palmyra.

“With 4-H, you certainly get community involvement. You get the kids being taught how to run business meetings, how to improve their leadership skills. So when we started with the club officers, this was our first year with the club officers,” Bomgardner said.

The shooting club has been a family affair for him and his family. Bomgardner’s daughter Brooke was the first 4-H Shooting Club president, and Brooke’s younger siblings Braden and Kylie are also shooting club members who compete against their peers.

“We had never been involved in 4-H. So we just decided to try it out,” said Brooke, who also hunts with her family. “There’s also clubs here at the Sportsmen’s Association that we’ve become part of, so it was really an easy thing for us to get together as a family and do.”

4-H shooting club vice president Leia Titus said she joined because she thought it would be a fun experience.  

“I wanted to try doing archery because it sounds like a lot of fun, and a fun thing to learn,” Titus said, adding she is interested in archery for range shooting. “It was something that I could pick up really easily too.” 

“I would definitely say leadership and public speaking and just learning all about parliamentary procedure and being able to lead a meeting,” said Brooke about lessons learned this year. 

“I would say that I learned how to listen better and be patient with myself,” added Titus. 

Bomgardner said he has seen youths mature over the past year. The traditional 4-H calendar year typically runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 31, Weaver noted.

“Two of them have started working for me. So I’ve seen them more than just 4-H. But they’ve really started to grow together. My boy made his own best buddies with the guy down there shooting,” Bomgardner said, pointing to an area of the range where members were practicing. “We met them through 4-H and then got involved with the other programs. It’s really starting to be a bond of friends, a band of friends that are joining together. I think that being able to come out socially, they start to grow in that way. You see how they’re grown because they’re showing it.”

For Brooke, besides the learning, there are other benefits to being in the club.

“I often find it kind of relaxing. Not so much when you’re in a tournament, but that also helps you, it really helps you with your mental gain because shooting is a lot mentally,” she said. “It also helps you with physical training, strength training, and being able to pull up your bow. Also just being able to be around people, having met a lot of new people through this. And it’s just a fun thing to do.”

To learn more

Parents or youths wishing to learn more about the Lebanon County 4-H clubs for the coming program year can visit the club page for more details.